About Speaking of Diabetes

Speaking of Diabetes is produced by Joslin Diabetes Center for people with diabetes and those who care for them..

Joslin Diabetes Center, a teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a one-of-a-kind institution on the front lines of the world epidemic of diabetes - leading the battle to conquer diabetes in all forms through cutting-edge research and innovative approaches to clinical care and education.

Good news for those over 65 years of age who need to lose a significant amount of weight. Medicare is now paying for intensive obesity behavioral counseling for those participants who are obese (BMI >-30kg/m). And one of the best parts is that you don’t have to go anywhere special. The sessions are given right in your own primary care physician’s office by either your physician or another primary care practitioner such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. There is even the possibility that your physician could have you see a registered dietitian right in his/her own office.

And this time Medicare did it right in terms of frequency and numbers of sessions. They realized that obesity is a chronic disease and a one-shot intervention wasn’t going to alleviate anything, so the benefit extends over a year. For the first month you will attend weekly sessions and then these will lengthen to one every other week for the next six months. For your sessions to continue through the rest of the year you have to have lost at least 3kg (6.6 pounds) by the end of the six months. That is only 1.1 pounds per month, entirely doable!

One caveat: in order to participate you have to be enrolled in Medicare Part B.